New lab test to determine glycemic impact of food.Consumers, grain producers and the food industry will benefit from a new research alliance established to find better ways to measure the glycemic Glycemic The presence of glucose in the blood. Mentioned in: Cholesterol, High glycemic pertaining to the level of glucose in the blood. response of grains, ingredients and processed foods. A precise, quick and relatively inexpensive laboratory test that will predict how a food product will affect blood sugar levels is being developed by GlycANZ, a trans-Tasman collaboration between New Zealand's Crop & Food Research and Australia's CSIRO CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (Australia) Food Futures Flagship. The laboratory test will be quicker and less expensive than the clinical tests currently in use to determine glycemic impact. It's likely to be at least two years before it is commercially available. The test will help manufacturers when they are reformulating and developing products to improve the health and well-being of consumers, explains John Monro, food scientist at Crop & Food Research. These types of tests have higher throughput, are more cost-effective and potentially are more precise and specific than current glycemic index gly·ce·mic index n. An index that measures the ability of a given food to elevate blood sugar. glycemic index, n (GI) tests used to measure the impact of food on blood sugars, we're told. The GI test harnesses a standardized methodology, using people to measure the blood glucose blood glucose Diabetology The principal sugar produced by the body from food–especially carbohydrates, but also from proteins and fats; glucose is the body's major source of energy, is transported to cells via the circulation and used by cells in the presence response to either 25 g or 50 g of the carbohydrate component found in a food. Development of the new test is one of the objectives of the GlycANZ alliance to help make food choices easier for consumers. Research is focusing on blood glucose responses to foods, and on resistant starch Resistant starch (RS) is starch that escapes digestion in the small intestine of healthy individuals.1 Resistant starch is considered the third type of dietary fiber, as it can deliver some of the benefits of insoluble fiber and some of the benefits of soluble fiber. . The efforts include developing a test to help people adopt healthy diets. The alliance is addressing the importance of glycemic response in the prevention and management of serious medical conditions See carpal tunnel syndrome, computer vision syndrome, dry eyes and deep vein thrombosis. such as diabetes. Scientists at Crop & Food Research can help food producers determine the glycemic index and glycemic load of their products, including beverages, fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, snack bars and meals. Researchers can: ? Measure the GI of carbohydrate in food products; ? Calculate the glycemic load of foods; ? Undertake analytical tests to guide the reformulation of products; ? Prove the efficacy of products in human clinical trials; and ? Modify products to lower their glycemic index or glycemic load. Further information. John Monro, Crop & Food Research, Private Bag 11 600, Palmerston North, New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. ; phone: +64 6 356 8300; fax: +64 6 351 7050; email: monroj@crop.cri.nz; URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : www.crop.cri.nz. |
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